Inspiration and Discernment in Pentecostal Aesthetics
[Article]
Steven Felix-Jager
Leiden
Brill
This article attempts to define what an artist's 'interior promptings' or inspirations are and to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in artistic inspiration and discernment. In so doing, divine inspiration is defined broadly so as to make room for artistic inspiration. This article also considers how the Holy Spirit influences human imaginations through experience and how inspirations are derived from these experiences. Different ways to understand religious and cultural worldviews are also examined. The concept of 'seeing' is considered to understand the Pentecostal agenda as attempting to cause a transformative paradigm shift in a person's worldview. Finally, this article engages in dialogue with Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong in order to look at spiritual discernment and answer the question, 'Does the Holy Spirit inspire art in other religious or secular traditions?' This article attempts to define what an artist's 'interior promptings' or inspirations are and to understand the role of the Holy Spirit in artistic inspiration and discernment. In so doing, divine inspiration is defined broadly so as to make room for artistic inspiration. This article also considers how the Holy Spirit influences human imaginations through experience and how inspirations are derived from these experiences. Different ways to understand religious and cultural worldviews are also examined. The concept of 'seeing' is considered to understand the Pentecostal agenda as attempting to cause a transformative paradigm shift in a person's worldview. Finally, this article engages in dialogue with Pentecostal theologian Amos Yong in order to look at spiritual discernment and answer the question, 'Does the Holy Spirit inspire art in other religious or secular traditions?'